Feeder for warped articles



Nov. 29, 1927.

L. E. LA BOMBARD ET AL FEEDER FOR WARPED ARTICLES Filed Jan.18, 1926 5 Sheets-Sheet l A 77mm: Y.

Nov. 29, 1927. 1,651,135

L. E. LA BOMBARD ET AL FEEDER FOR WARPED ARTICLES Filed Jan.l8, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 .Hlllllll Nqv. 29, 1927.

1,651,135 L. 5. LA BOMBARD ET AL FEEDER FOR WARPED ARTICLES F'led Jan. 18, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 15 //v VENTURE.

0NAA50M5ARQ N54 V/N/7. 5/0550 277% M.

Patented Nov. 29, 1927.

UNE

ran STATES PATENT o F c LEON E; LA BQMBARD AND MELVIN H. SIDEIBOTHAMfOF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS,

ASSIGNORS TU SPECIALTY AUTOMATIC MACHINE COMPANY, OF CHELSEA, MASSA- CEUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

FEEDER FOR WARPED ARTICLES.

Application filed January This invention relates to mechanism for separating from the bottom of a pile, singly, articles which are warped or otherwise misshapen, and transferring them to position for furthertreatment as by assembling them in proper reiationship with other articles; and the invention has particular reference to means for feeding disks, singly, from a holder or magazine and inserting them one by one intoend 01 each off-a succession of tubes preparatory to a crimping or other operation to secure the disks inplace to close the ends of the tubes.

Tubular or cylindrical boxes of paper stock are well known. In the manufacture of such boxes heretofore it has been customary to locate the end-closing disks in the ends-of the tubes by hand,the ends of the tubes being then crimped into engagement with the margins of the disks. The reason iorsomanually locating the disks isthat cardboard is seldom 'naturally fiat and'consequently disks cutqthere'irom tend to curl or become warped. This teature oi the disks, and their curved edges, has rendered itdifiicult to take them singly from a supply, by machinery, and to deposit them, also singly, and by machinery, just within the ends of tubes or cylinders.

An important object of the present invention is to provide an automatic machine for removing disks singly froma pile or stack and then depositing them just within the open ends of tubes, ready for another operor warpedcondition of the disks will not ation which will secure the disks in their pie-determined positions. In attaining this object, an important feature of the invention is that the pile or stackof disks is supported at three marginal points one of which is adjacent to the gate or outlet otthe feeder and the other two being adjacent to opposite sides of the diametrical line which includes the first mentioned point, whereby any curled interfere with the pushing forward ofeach bottom disk through the gate or outlet.

With the above-mentioned object in view, the invention consists in the construction and combinationof parts substantially as hereinafter described and claimed.

Of the accompanying drawings:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the ma chine. A

18, 1926. Serial No. 81,943.

section of the machine, with the gripper jawsjust about to grasp a disk.

Figure 4 is a perspective detail view of the support for the hopper member.

Figure 5 is a perspective detail view of the gripping and pulling mechanism.

Figure 6" is a detail side elevation, from the side opposite that illustrated by Figure 3, of the gripper whenit is pulling a disk toward delivery posltion. I

- Figure 7 is a View similar to Figure 6, illustrating the delivery of a disk into the end of a tube. p

Figure 8 is a perspective View of the gripper mechanism from the side opposite that illustrated by Figure 5, and on a larger scale, and with side plates ofthe mechanism removed to show' the internal members.

. Similar. reference characters indicate similar parts in all of the views.v I

The 'i'r'ame of the machine. includes side plates 12 (Figs. 1,2 and 3) having bracket portions .13 in which is rigidly mounted a cross bar 14. As best illustrated by Figure 4, said cross bar supports the hopper for a provide an outlet for a single blank. Hence said strip is termeda gate strip.

The other two upright members of the hopper are rods 18 each ofwhich is carried by a laterally curved arm 19 having a hookshaped portion or bracket 20 mounted on the crossbar 14 in suchmanner that said arms and the rods l8 may be laterally adjusted or removedv and replaced by others to suit the sizes or "shapes of the blanks to be piled in the hopper; I e

Spaced from the lower, end of gate strip 15 to permit the passage of a single blank is a block 21 (Fig. 3) a portion of the surface of which serves as one of the three points which support the pile of blanks.

Said block is adjustable vertically, as by a screw 22, in a casing 23 supported by a stud 24 (Fig. 2) projecting in from one of the side members of the frame. The other two supports for the pile are illustrated at 25 and each has a shoulder 26. ried by a plate 27 mounted to slide in ways 28 carried by the side walls of .the frame, an ad ustable stop screw 29 being provided to limit rearward movement of the slide. slide 27 is reciprocated by a cam 30 (Fig. 3) carried by shaft '31, said cam acting on a roll 32 of a lever 33 pivoted at 34 and connected by a link 35 with an ear 36 extending movement of the slide.

down from the slide, a suitable spring being connected to the lever 33 to effect return This mechanism provides for only the partial ejection ofa bottom blank a past the lower end of the gate strip 15' by the action of the shoulders 26 of the members pushing at two points against the rear edge of the blank to forward it to position where its front edge will be taken by the jaws ofthe gripping and pulling mechanism presently described. As illustrated by Figures 1 and 2, the front edge of the slide 27 is recessed or cut away at 37 to permit the entry'to proper position of the gripper which moves inward toapproach'the front edge of the blank as the blank is being ejected through thegate by the slide. 1

The gripper mechanism is carried by a slide bar 38 (Figs. 1 and 2) mounted in, a guideway 39 supported by the frame and connected by a link 40 with an. arm 41 of a rock'shaft 42, said rock shaft having another arm 43 the end of which has a stud or roll engaged in a path cam 44 (Fig. 3) carried by the shaft 31. Rigidly mounted at the end of the slide bar 38 and projecting laterally therefrom is a pin or long stud 45 (Fig. 5)

which supports the gripper vmechanism.

Mounted to rook on the stud 45' is a sleeve 46 having a firmly secured arm 47 provided with a pin 48 adapted to cont-act, when the slide bar 38 and the gripper reach extreme outer position, with a stop 49 projecting from a block 50 which is adjustably secured to the outer end of a stationary bar 51 which is secured to the frame of the machine and extends parallel with the slide bar 38.

Secured to the pin or stud 45 near its end (Fig. 5) is a cam-shaped block 52, and se-' cured to the sleeve 46 close to said cam or block, is a block 53 (Figs. 3, 7 and 8) having a rigid ledge 54 the tip of which forms the lower jaw of the gripper.

Mounted above the ledge 54 is the upper jaw member 55 the portion 56 of which coacts with the tip of the ledge 54 to grip a,

blanln Extending beyond said portion 56 is a pair of laterally curved flat arms 57 the purpose of which will be explained hereinafter. Rising from the back of the member They are car- I The,

55is a finger 58, said member having also a Projecting laterally from both sides of the U member 55 and the shelf member 61 are screw-threaded pins 63 which project through holes in side plates 64 (Fig. 5) and on which nuts are mounted, whereby the two side plates serve to hold the members 55 and 61 in rigid relationship, and at the same time coact with said members in providing a space or chamber which encloses the lower jaw member or ledge 54.

A spring 65 partly mounted in a recess in the block 53 and bearing against the member 55 tends to shift the members 55 and 61, which are rigidly connected by the side plates 64, from the position illustrated by Figure 3 to the position illustrated by Figure 7, the limit of such movement being reached when the lug 59 of the member 55 contacts with the lug 60 of the ledge member 54. V

A stop pin 66 (Figs. 2 and 3) projecting from a stud 67 carried by the cross bar 14 presents its tip in the path of the finger 58 of the upper jaw member for a purpose which will be explained.

Secured in the lower part of the gripper block53 is a pin 68 (Figs. 3, 5, 6 and 7), and

member 69 the tipof which serves to contact loo with the cam block 52 for a purposeflpres f ently explained. Also secured to the pin 68 is a latch 70 the hooked tip of which is adapted to engage a shoulder 71 on the under side of the shelf member 61. A tension spring 72 connected at one end to a bracket 73 mounted on the top of the block 53 and at the other end to the latch member" 69, tends to hold the latch 7 O engaged with the shoulder 71.

A spring 74 (Fig. 5), coiled around the hub of the arm 47 of the rocking sleeve 46 and connected at one end thereto and at the other end to a suitable fixed point of the slide bar 38, acts to return the sleeve and its'gripbe fed are placed in the-hopper the upright members 15, 18, of which are so located relatively to each other that the margin of the lower blank of the pile will rest on the three supports 21,15, said blank bearing on nothing else as illustrated by comparing Figures 2 and 3, whereby said blank, even if considerably warped, can bereliably fed as presently explained. This is because one support (21) is in line with and close to and substantially level with the bottom of the outlet or gateway, while the other two supports (25) are in line with and close to the pushing shoul ders 25.

The timing-of the operation of the parts of the machine is such that'the' slide 27 and the gripper approach each other substantially simultaneously to the relative positions illustrated by Figure 3 and'then retreat. =Zlhe two shoulders 26 of the slide push the bottom blank through the gateway to a position where the gripper can take hold of it without contacting with any other blank Just before the parts reachin the pile. their inward positions (Fig. 3), the finger 58 of the upper j aw member contacts with the tip of the stop pin 66 so that, during the slight further inward movement, the upper jaw rises to admit the front edge of the blank a to the position illustrated by Figure 3. Then the pushing slide and the gripper begin their parting movements and the spring 65 closes the upper jaw down and the blank is gripped and pulled out through the gateway and is carried to a predeterminec position which, with the embodiment of the invention illustrated, is above a box-tube Z) mounted on a mandrel 0 (F 5). In practice a succession of such -mandrels arrive and stop in position to receive a succession of the disks for further joint action, but the mechanism therefor has nothing to dowith the feeder ierein illustrated and therefore needs no disclosure herein.

1V hen the slide bar 2-38, which carries the pin or stud a5 on which the gripper is mounted, reaches its outermost position the stop as (Fig. carried by the lined bar 51 arrests the pin 48 of the arm of the sleeve l so that, during a slight further outward movement of the slide bar, the sleeve is rocked on the pin d5, in opposition to the force of the spring 7 1*. This swings the gripper down toward the position indicated in Figure 7, and the latch member 69 contacts 'ith the cam block 52'and lowers the latch 70 from the shoulder 62 of the shelf member 61, (Fig. 3) so that the spring 65 can then slide the upper jaw member forward until the lug 59 contacts'with the stop of the shelf member or ledge 5s The upper jaw member 55 is projected sharply beyond the tip of the let ge 54, which tip constitutes the lower jaw member, so that the blank is projected in a downwardly inclined direction into the open top of the box tube 6 (Fig. 7).

fter the delivery of a blank as described, the slide bar 38 carries the gripper back to take another blank. 'lVhen the said return movement begins, the spring 74 swings the sleeve 4L6 and the gripper to raise the latter, and then when the linger 58 again contacts with the end of the pin 66 the upper jaw member 55 and the shelf member 61 are pushed back or slid back on the ledge 53,

; compressing the spring 65 and reengaging the shoulder 62 behind the'latch 70, so that the 'aws will retain their hold of another Having now described our invention, We

claim 2-- l. A feeder having a hopper for a pile of blanks, said hopper having a delivery opening and three spaced supports for the 1119.1 gin of the bottom blank of the pile, two of said supports beingv movable, and means including said two movable supports for removing the blanks singly through said opening.

' 2. A feeder having a hopper for a pile of blanks, said hopper having a delivery opening and three spaced supports for the mar gin of the bottom blank of the pile, and a reciprocating gripper for removing the blanks singly through the opening.

3. A feeder having a hopper for a pile of disks, said hopper having an outlet and three spaced supports forthe margin of the bottom disk of the pile, and a reciproeating gripper for removing the disks singly through said outlet, means being provided for causing said'gripper to positively deliver each disk in a pie-determined location.

4. A machine for feeding articles not reliably fiat, said machine having a hopper provided with supports for three spaced marginal portionsof'one of a pile of the articles, a front outlet adjacent to one of said supports, and pushing means-to engage the rear of said supported article.

5. A machine for feeding articles not reliably flat, said machine having a hopper provided with three uprights for engaging the edges of a pile of circular articles and having supports for three'spaced marginal portions of the bottom one of said pile of the articles, a front outlet adjacent to one blanks, said hopper having an outlet to per-I mit the passage of the bottom article of the pile, and means for partly pushing and then 7 said outlet, and a reciprocating gripper to complete the removal of said article. i 8. A feeder substantially as specified by claim 7, the slide having a recess in its front edge. 7

9. A feeder having a hopper for a pile of blanks, pushing means for partly removing the bottom blank of the pile in the direction of its plane, a reciprocating carrier having means for causing it to grasp the partly re- 10. A feeder having a hopper for a pile of blanks, pushing means for partly'removing the bottom blank of the pile in the direction of its plane, a reciprocating slide having a gripper mounted to rock relatively thereto, means for causing the gripper to grasp the partly removed blank when the slide is at one end of its movement, and means for rocking the gripper downward and effecting release of the blank when the slide is at the other end of its movement.

In testimony whereof we have afiixed our si gnatures.

LEON E. LA BOMBARD. MELVIN H. SIDEBOTHAM., 

